Biased, candid and subjective book reviews of whatever we happen to be reading

Wednesday, January 30

Trick or Treat – Kerry Greenwood

Could Earthly Delights be run out of business? A franchised bakery’s opened just up the lane from Corinna and though their bread’s not a patch on hers, the customers are flocking to Best Fresh where muffins are two for $2, even if they are dry and crumbly. And young people are going mad near Lonsdale Street, although the agent can’t be isolated on tox tests, and what’s the connection with Jewish gold, stolen by the Nazis in Greece during the war?At least Corinna has her friends, including Wiccan Meroe, who needs soul cakes baked for Samhain, and her beloved Daniel. Although Daniel seems to be living with a confident, impossibly tall, blonde ringleted woman named Georgiana, who seems to have designs not only Corinna’s boyfriend but also her bakery. And if it’s not Daniel sending her well chosen presents and anonymous letters of devotion, who is?Only Kerry Greenwood could combine all these disparate (or, in the end, not so disparate) events into a coherent and thoroughly enjoyable whole. I did guess the cause of the wave of insanity fairly early on, but this in no way diminished my enjoyment of the book. As is so often the case with series, half the pleasure is revisiting old friends and seeing them develop, and in Jason (Corinna’s fifteen-year-old ex-addict assistant) Greenwood has created a fantastic character. Watching his nuanced relationship with Goss and Kylie (the shop girls) develop is even more interesting than Corinna and Daniel’s. Pure delight, and such a shame that it’ll be a good year before the next indulgence. - AlexTo see Lynn's review of Trick or Treat click here